Obesity

Facebook Knows If You're Fat

While Facebook's stock price has taken a noticeable dive since its IPO last year (sorry, Zuckers), the company has been quietly working on slicing and dicing your data to the delight of advertisers. They can know deep stuff about you, and that's money. This week researchers at Boston Children's Ho ... More >>

Gage Middle School Students in L.A. Suburb Fight Back with Kale and Yoga after Being Dubbed California's Fattest Kids

Huntington Park was dubbed the city with the fattest kids in California in 2012, which prompted students and faculty at heavily Latino Gage Middle School in Huntington Park to team up and try slim down the student body's bodies. After an article posted by L.A. Weekly and headlined "Huntington Park ... More >>

Sugary Drinks Linked to 180,000 Deaths Annually

Now we know you were all really mad at NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg for trying to ban large-sized sodas. But the man may have had a point. Sugary beverages are linked to more than 180,000 deaths worldwide annually, according to new research presented this week at an American Heart Assn. conference. ... More >>

Your 3,000 Calorie Dinner: Group Names Highest Calorie Chain Restaurant Meals

The Center For Science In The Public Interest has named it's "Xtreme Eating 2013" winners, if winner is an accurate word for a business you're publicly shaming for promoting obesity. Each year, the group focuses on the most calorific dishes served in America's chain restaurants, as part of its push ... More >>

Salty Foods Make Kids Want Sugary Drinks (News Flash!)

In the "duh" study of the week, Medpage Today reports that kids and teens who eat salty foods are more likely to crave sugary drinks, potentially raising their risk for obesity, according to Australian researchers. The study of 4,283 Australian children ages 2 to 16 found salt consumption was posit ... More >>

Current TV To Air Health-Conscious "Currently: Feeding The Need" Series Featuring Wolfgang Puck and Mary Sue Milliken

Around Thanksgiving, more than any other holiday, we think about food. (And not just what we plan to serve alongside the turkey.) We're grateful for food, and we think more consciously about those who don't have enough food, and those who don't have access to good quality food, and are suffering bec ... More >>

Researchers Paying People to Get Fat on Junk Food

Raise your hand if you'd like to be paid to eat junk food every day. In a study that is proving popular with participants, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are paying people to eat an extra 1,000-calorie fast food meal every day for three months, ABC News reports ... More >>

Nutrition Science Initiative: Scientists Create 'Manhattan Project' to Take On Obesity in U.S.

Why are Americans so damn fat, and what can be done about it? A newly launched nonprofit organization, the Nutrition Science Initiative, is trying to find the answer to that mind-boggler. NuSI's goal is to "create a Manhattan Project-like effort" to solve the problem of obesity in the U.S. by focusi ... More >>

Medical Marijuana Can Help You Lose Weight?

We never understood the drug stereotypes of the skinny cocaine user and the overweight stoner. Just take a look at John Belushi or Montel Williams. New research suggests that, indeed, those old stereotypes might be wrong: Weed might actually help you fight obesity. That would explain all the skinny ... More >>

L.A. Tries to Ban Soda Vending Machines From City Parks, Libraries

The highly politicized crackdown on America's fat people hits Los Angeles today, with a motion from L.A. City Councilman Mitchell Englander to ban all soda vending machines on city-owned property. Englander, a physically fit frat-bro type who is clearly trying to one-up New York Mayor Michael Bloom ... More >>

Study: Losing Sleep Results in Unhealthy Food Choices

If you've ever stayed up too late, got up too early, and grabbed, say, a pint of ice-cream rather than a cup of yoghurt for breakfast, there may be very good reason for your morning sweet tooth: In a study exploring the relationship between obesity and sleep deprivation, researchers from St. Luke's ... More >>

Huntington Park Has the Fattest Kids in California; Manhattan Beach Has the Skinniest

As we're sure you've heard, childhood obesity levels are not doing so good in America. Though they've leveled off overall, low-income cities are still stuffing over 50 percent of their young with enough French fries to earn them an "obese" Post-It on their forehead. Fattest city in California? That ... More >>

New York City Mayor Proposes Ban on Large Sodas

As we count down the days remaining to enjoy foie gras in California, we should also count our blessings that we do not live in New York City, which has just proposed a ban of large-size sodas. (Or maybe we shouldn't; maybe it is good idea.) The far-reaching ban would prohibit the sale of large soda ... More >>

Food Can Be More Addictive Than Crack, Scientist Says

The next time you wonder why you can't get that intense craving for steak fries and a large chocolate milkshake out of your head, ask yourself -- are you addicted? Some people say yes. Food can potentially be more addictive than cocaine.  Although the theory remains controversial, according to ... More >>

Majority of Californians Support Soda Tax

Three out of five California voters would support a special tax on soda and soft drinks to fight childhood obesity, according to a new Field Poll. New data collected as part of the Field-The California Endowment Childhood Obesity Prevention Survey found that 48% of participants cited unhealthy eat ... More >>

Junk Food in Schools Not Linked to Childhood Obesity

Fat kids everywhere, rejoice! There's no link between childhood obesity and junk food sold in schools, a new study has found. Cities all over the country have been busy banning the sale of sweet and salty snacks in public schools in a bid to fight childhood obesity (thanks, Mrs. Obama). But a new ... More >>

New Food Network Show Fat Chef to Premiere Jan. 26

A new batch of chefs is joining the Food Network later this month, but they won't be doing much cooking. Instead, the group of chefs deemed "fat" will be a part of Fat Chef, a Biggest Loser-type program, focusing on helping twelve professional chefs lose weight while improving their mental and physi ... More >>

Denmark Taxes the Fat

Enjoying fatty food in Denmark just became more expensive. The country's new "fat tax" charges around $3 per 2.2 pounds of saturated fat. Prices on food items like burgers and butter are set to go up in a country that also pays more for its sodas and sugar. Any item with more than 2.3% saturated fa ... More >>

Infographic of the Day: Plotting Food Costs vs. Food Prices

T. NguyenA buck buys you a whole lot of calories, sugar, and sodium.​Way back in 2004, University of Washington researcher Adam Drewnowski explored the relationship between poverty and obesity, finding that foods in supermarket middle aisles - mostly processed junk - delivered the most calorie ... More >>

[Updated] Michelle Obama Announces Retailers Will Expand Into Food "Deserts"

Samantha Appleton/White HouseThe First Lady and elementary school students tend the White House garden​ Update 11:50 a.m. 7/20/2011 - Mayor Manuel Lozano spoke before Obama about his work in Baldwin Park, along with James Gavin III, chairman of the Partnership for a Healthier America's Board ... More >>

Americans Are Eating More Meals Bigger Portions

Flickr/Father.Jack​ This may come as a shock, but a new study has found that Americans are eating more than they used to, Reuters reports. Average daily meal consumption has risen from 3.8 in 1977 to 4.8 in 2006, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers. In the pi ... More >>

Scientists Discover Obesity "Master Switch" Gene: And No, It Does Not Control Your Car Window

Flickr/Jeremy Brooksa drive-thru window view​ Yesterday Reuters reported that scientists have found a so-called "master switch" for obesity. And no, it is not the lock button on your car door window. Although given that the line of cars recently stacking up to order drive-thru at the first br ... More >>

Flu Season: Three Dead In L.A. County, 50 Infected In Outbreak At A Local School

Tristen.PeltonGet your shot on.​The sun is shining and winter seems kind in L.A. this week, but not beneath the surface. Three people have died of influenza in the last two weeks, the county reports, marking the first fatalities of the 2010-11 flu season. Don't panic, but ... The county also ... More >>

Congress Approves Child Nutrition Bill, Finally

Flickr/Sea Frostwhat Congress has been eating lately​ Despite some last-minute histrionics (of course), today Congress approved the child nutrition bill. The House passed the bill by a vote of 264 to 157; the Senate passed the bill unanimously in August. The legislation will expand the school ... More >>

We Are Fat, Starving, and Can't All Be Mark Bittman: Or, Hunger Levels at a 15-Year High

N. GalutenChili cheese dog​ Yes, we are a big country with many different people -- but there is something wrong when we are both fat and hungry. CNN is citing a federal report telling us that U.S. hunger levels continue to be at a 15-year high. Why 15 years? Because that's as long as the Depa ... More >>

L.A. Plans To Ban Smoking In 'All Public Areas:' What About Burger Eating?

Put a burger in that belly and then see.​The same do-nothing L.A. City Council that made every possible exception to its so-called economic boycott of Arizona, shut down libraries on Mondays and cut overtime for the town's already limited police force is now telling folks they can't smoke -- p ... More >>

Happy Meals Are About to Get A lot Less Happy

Mario Anzuoni, ReutersTo our children's dismay, Happy Meals may become healthy meals​ California kids will now have fewer incentives to ditch mom's homemade organically grown, tofu steak dinners for Happy Meals, thanks to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. On Tuesday, the Board took ste ... More >>

Fighting Childhood Obesity, One Cloudberry at a Time

Creative Nation/FlickrClaus Meyer on the set of "New Scandinavian Cooking"​ The author of over a dozen cookbooks, a cooking show host, and a part-time professor at the University of Copenhagen, Noma co-owner Claus Meyer has started a passel of successful food-related businesses over the past 2 ... More >>

New Weight Loss Pill? Fake Food Tricks Body Into Feeling Full

Flickr user erix!Pills, pills, pills​ The Obesity Society had their annual meeting in San Diego over the weekend, and Shari Roan at the Los Angeles Times filed a report on some of the latest discoveries in the field. One of the bigger pieces of news came from researchers in Calgary, who had be ... More >>

Scientists Link Obesity to Viral Infection

Flickr/blue.tofu​ You mean it's not the foie gras with truffle oil on a bed of fettuccine? New research suggests that obesity may be caused by a contagious virus related to the common cold virus, the (UK) Independent reported Sept. 21. Scientists at UC San Diego say the discovery of this str ... More >>

Respite From Continuous Stream Of Bad News: 40 States Fatter Than California

Mississippi on the left; we're on the right.​ A new report from from the Trust for America's Health confirms it: We're not as unhealthy as the rest of really unhealthy America. Sure, we're pretty unhealthy, but for now let's take in the good news and celebrate with a Double Down. California ... More >>

Michelle Obama Has Sunday Supper at Lucques Monday Dinner at Mozza

APMichelle Obama talking childhood obesity​Thanks to the good people at Obama Foodorama, we've discovered that Michelle Obama arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday, whereupon the sustainable-food conscious First Lady took her daughters to Lucques in West Hollywood for Sunday supper. Said the restau ... More >>

On The Governor's Plate Tomorrow: The Obesity Summit

Tomorrow Arnold Schwarzenegger hosts his Obesity Summit, or, to be more specific, the 2010 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity: Action for Healthy Living. The Governor will be joined by former President Bill Clinton tomorrow in downtown Los Angeles at The California Endowment, at 1000 North Alam ... More >>

Chinese Girls and Fat Mexican Kids

Is a Fat Tax the Solution to California's Economic Woes?

Americans are fat, and they are getting fatter. A recent study by the Urban Institute and the University of Virginia says that unless consumption patterns change, 40 percent of the country's population will be overweight or obese by 2015. Even here in the Golden State, where body image is so importa ... More >>

Slow Food's Time For Lunch Campaign Aims to Get "Real Food" in Schools

Say the word "malnutrition" and the image that comes to mind is probably the shirtless 3rd World child with a bulging belly and large, sad eyes that you've seen for years on TV. But the plump-cheeked American kid may be suffering from malnutrition too--though perhaps not from lack of food. One in f ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 8/2 - 8/7/2009

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "If one's national bard writes a poem to a dish consisting of chopped-up offal cooked in a sheep's stomach together with oatmeal and spices and secured with a curious pin, then that dish must be authentically national." Keep Y ... More >>

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